In addition, there is a Deputy Credentials Committee under the Standing Committee of the NPC.

　　How the NPC Operates

　　The NPC session is held in the first quarter of the year. Prior to the opening of an NPC session, deputies to the Congress are organized into delegations to represent their respective constituencies. When the NPC is in session, plenary meetings of the Congress, plenary meetings of the delegations and group meetings of the deputies are held. At the plenary meeting of the NPC, deputies listen to work reports by the State Council, the Standing Committee of the NPC, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate; report on the draft plan for national economic and social development; report on the draft plan for the state budgets; explanations made by sponsors of the bills they submit to the meeting for deliberation; vote on those bills; and elect, appoint or remove members of the Central Government departments. At plenary meetings of delegations and at group meetings, the deputies examine relevant reports and bills.

　　The following have the right to submit bills to the NPC: the Presidium of the NPC, the Standing Committee of the NPC, the special committees of the NPC, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, a delegation, or at least 30 deputies doing it jointly. A bill for amending the Constitution is required to be submitted by the Standing Committee of the NPC or jointly by at least one-fifth of all NPC deputies.

　　With regard to a legislative bill placed on the session’s agenda, the deputies listen to the explanations made by the sponsor of the bill before proceeding to deliberate it. The legislative bill is adopted when a simple majority of the deputies vote for it. Then, the president of the People’s Republic of China signs an order to promulgate it as a new law. An amendment to the Constitution requires the affirmative votes of at least a two-thirds majority of all the deputies and the session’s presidium promulgates it after it is adopted.

　　NPC sessions are held openly. Public galleries are reserved at the plenary meetings for diplomatic envoys to China. News releases and press conferences keep Chinese and foreign reporters abreast of the developments of the sessions, and questions raised by the reporters are answered.

　　In general, the Standing Committee of the NPC meets once every other month and the meeting is called and presided over by the chairman. When the Standing Committee of the NPC is in session, plenary meetings, group meetings and joint group meetings are held. The plenary meetings are held to listen to explanations of legislative bills and other bills as well as to work reports by the State Council, the relevant departments under the State Council, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, before relevant bills are put to vote. At group meetings, relevant bills and reports are deliberated. Representatives of the sponsors of the bills are invited to attend these meetings to listen to comments and suggestions and answer questions. Joint group meetings are held to further deliberate the key issues of the legislative bills discussed at group meetings.

　　The following have the right to submit bills to the Standing Committee of the NPC: the Council of Chairmen, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the special committees of the NPC, and jointly by at least 10 members of the Standing Committee of the NPC.

　　A legislative bill is generally put to vote after it is deliberated at three different meetings of the Standing Committee. This is known in China as the “three-round deliberation system.”The bill needs to be adopted as a law by a simple majority of all the members of the Standing Committee of the NPC, before the president of the People’s Republic of China signs an order to promulgate it.

　　In order to ensure that laws fully reflect the wishes and demands of the people, the Standing Committee holds forums, seminars and hearings with different government departments, local government authorities, experts and scholars to solicit their opinions. Major draft laws that have a bearing on the immediate interests of the people are generally promulgated for the general public to make comments and suggestions.

　　Meetings of the Standing Committee of the NPC are open to domestic news media.

　　A political system is, without exception, the product of a given set of historical conditions and closely related to a given stage of social development. Thanks to the deepening of reform are opening up to the outside world and to economic development and all-round social progress over the last twenty years or more, the system of people’s congresses of China has improved and developed progressively, and it is playing an increasingly important role in the life of the country. During such a short period as 20 years or more, China has formulated many laws and regulations, of which more than 200 laws, over 650 administrative regulations and almost 10,000 local regulations are still in effect, forming a preliminary, Chinese-style socialist legal system. Education in the knowledge of law conducted among all the Chinese people greatly helps enhance the awareness of the importance of the law and the legal system among the general public. China has carried out reform of the election system, thus broadening democracy at the grassroots level and unprecedented heightening the enthusiasm of the Chinese citizens for orderly participation in political activities. Administrative and judicial systems in China have been undergoing steady reform, strongly promoting government administration in accordance with the law and fair legal proceedings, safeguarding the basic rights of Chinese citizens and ensuring a fair and just society. We have good reason to believe that China’s system of people’s congresses is bound to further improve along with continued social and economic development.